October 31, 2008

Warner Brothers and producer Joel Silver are developing an updated remake of the classic science fiction film. This sounds a lot more promising than "The Day The Earth Stood Still". I just hope they do a better casting job on this one. They've hired J. Michael Straczynski who wrote for Babylon 5 and recently the script for Ninja Assassin. James Cameron was a director who was attached at one time. Depending on the progress of Battle Angel and if he decides to helm Fathom , Cameron could jump on the project. That's unless Joel Silver has a director already in mind. The film influenced a majority of science fiction properties which include Star Trek and the Alien series. Also many other numerous television shows and films.

"a group of Earth scientists who are sent some 17 light years away to investigate what happened to a colony of settlers on Altair-4. They find a man with a secret and his daughter who somehow survived a hideous monster attack on their planet."

October 28, 2008

Apparently Ridley Scott has bought a script by Ian Jeffers (Death Sentence, Castlevania) the really interesting part is that it involves werewolves. Ridley has never done a straight up horror film before, although he has mixed horror into other genres. It's unknown if he'll just produce the film or end up directing it. Considering the many recently announced films that he has committed to it would be unlikely.

October 27, 2008

While a majority of new films are now being adapted from comicbook and anime properties. I thought why not try to remake a film that was poorly executed but had great potential. Guyver originally a manga turned into animated film then a anime series. That ended up to spawn two live-action movies in 91 and 94, which ended up big flops. Although the special effects were amazing for the budget the films had terrible writing and awful humor added. Guyver could be rebooted if done properly with an actual name attached to star along with a decent script. It could be a great starring vehicle for Milo Ventimiglia (Pathology, Game) or Jay Baruchel (Million Dollar Baby, Tropic Thunder).

October 24, 2008

Steven Soderbergh is one busy guy he has many upcoming projects including a 3-D rock-n- roll musical "Cleo". It will be based on the story of Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Hugh Jackman are in talks to star. I'm not much for musicals but this one could be interesting at the very least. And I'm hoping we could see a few bloody battles along the way. I have lots of respect for Soderbergh, after shooting the epic "Che" and now trying his hands at musicals.

The Birds one of the greatest Hitchcock films is being remade. Now I'm the first one to ask, why? Since this sounds awful when remakes have to tread on Hitchcock again. You'd think Hollywood would remember what happened when "Psycho" was updated, a total disaster. This time Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) is directing with Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes. The one thing is has going for it is that Campbell is an excellent director and Platinum Dunes is one of the best production companies doing horror remakes. Now, George Clooney is rumored to be in talks to star alongside Naomi Watts who is also rumored to be starring. This sounds like it could end up working as long as they don't overuse the computer effects. When Peter Jackson remade King Kong I thought there was no way he could top the original films, yet he did. The Birds has a special place with me since it was my second scary movie. I later developed a love for Hitchcock's body of work, so this may not be something I'd want to see happen. Although this would be the best group of people involved to remake it.

Universal Pictures has optioned the video game "Army of Two". From reading the plot this sounds like it could be a really cool action flick. I just hope that someone figures out how to develop these video game films properly. A majority of these things are just messes that are made for fans of the games. rather than focusing on making a decent movie.

"The story begins in 1993 in Somalia when Elliot Salem and Tyson Rios (the protagonists of the game) are still in the U.S. 75th Ranger Regiment. They are tasked to work with Philip Clyde, a private military contractor with the Security and Strategy Corporation (SSC), to carry out an assassination. After this mission, Philip Clyde, on behalf of SSC CEO Ernest Stockwell, invites Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dalton (commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment) to join the company for a desk job. He agrees, asking to bring Salem and Rios with him as contractors, and in the following year, the three enter the private sector.[3] Salem and Rios begin work as mercenaries. Over the course of a decade and a half, they are caught up in a complex scheme to privatize the military, and see to the plot's downfall. At the game's epilogue, we see the two protagonists start their own firm — Trans World Operations, or TWO."

October 22, 2008

MarketSaw.com has been the biggest compiler of everything James Cameron. Now they have some interesting news on Battle Angel, the next James Cameron project. They've revealed that Battle Angel is in the pre-production stage with artists working on concepts, which means they have a script to be working off of. The adaptation of the famous Manga that become an Anime is now being developed by Cameron into a 3-D animated feature. It was rumored that the characters would be shot in live-action then the world and other androids would be computer generated using the similar techniques from Avatar. Now that Cameron has learned how to do this with trial and error with Avatar the process won't take as long this time around. I would guess that post-production will still take a long time but the turn around will take less time. Cameron was working on the script while shooting and post-production of Avatar, so the project could be further along than thought.

If Cameron ends up using real actors I could picture Ellen Page (Candy, Juno) and Nicki Clyne (Battlestar Galactica) as Gally/Alita. Page would be more likely for the role considering she has a well known name while Clyne is more of a fanboy favorite because of her work with Battlestar. I'm not someone who believes in casting from the world of science fiction television shows but she does have qualities needed. Also she's not involved with the television show anymore which could help her chances since she would need to give a year to the project. I could see William Dafoe as Daisuke Ido the sciencist/bounty hunter who repairs Gally.

Here are a few concept designs from Mark Goerner (X2, Minority Report), James Cylne (A.I., Transformers) and Feng Zhu who are working on the film. These images are from their websites and is not actual Battle Angel artwork. You can see why they were hired the level of detail is really amazing."a broken cyborg found in a dump by Ido a scienctist, is rebuilt with amazing strength and is named Gally/Alita. Later she becomes a bounty hunter and has to battle many advanced cyborgs."

Written, directed, and starring Marilyn Manson the shock rocker. "In Victorian times, an author who lives by himself in a castle, has visions of a girl named Alice. His name is Lewis Carrol and he finds himself terrified of what waits for him each night. He has become a symptom of his own invention". Lily Cole (Doctor Parnassus) is rumored for the role of Alice. If any of Manson's music videos are any indication of the quality of this project it's going to be amazing. Manson is also doing the soundtrack which should be great. He made the Resident Evil theme for the first film which was really creepy.

October 20, 2008

Based on the Dark Horse comics series which was created and is written by Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance).

Way announced that Universal Pictures has optioned the comic and are now looking for screenwriters, Diablo Cody was mentioned as a possible writer. He also mentioned director Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) as someone on his director wishlist.

I think the name dropping is more wishful thinking than anything unless there have been talks. The project seems interesting although some of the outfits in the comic won't translate to film.

October 19, 2008

Instead of sequels for both movies Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are hoping to mash the two movies into one large crossover. The idea would be to have directors Greg Mottola and David Gordon Green work together on the one film either co-directing or splitting up scenes. This could be a way to get a larger budget so that they could make the film more action oreinted. James Franco talked about during press about having the Superbad characters get into trouble and having Seth and Franco helping them out.

The princible characters would have to return which would include; Rogen, Franco, McBride, Cera, Hill and Mintz-Plasse.

Also some of the supporting characters could return. The ladies Amber Heard, Emma Stone and Martha MacIsaac. Bill Hader, Kevin Corrigan, Joe Lo Trugilo are actors who were in both films and they could make the crossover.

A few other possible cast members could be Kristen Wiig, Jason Segel, Jay Baruchel, Kristen Stewart, Kat Dennings, Martin Starr, David Krumholtz and Carla Gallo.

October 17, 2008

As previously stated by Smith this will not be the rumored "Ranger Danger" film that's been talked about for a while now. This will rather be a sci-fi comedy with a father-son relationship plot. Seth Rogen is someone Smith hopes can be involved in the project possibly starring. The Weinstein Company have read the script and agreed to a $50 million dollar budget, a big step for Smith. His previous films have had budgets between $25-30 million. The film will reference many other science fiction movies. Films that it most likely use will be the Star Wars saga because Smith is the biggest Star Wars geek in Hollywood. I love the idea of Smith developing a science-fiction film, although I hope it stays off the toes of the Mel Brooks movie "Spaceballs".

October 16, 2008

The newest and the freshest addition to the Star Wars universe is the video game The Force Unleashed. Now the question is depending on the success of the video game will Lucas allow it to get adapted to a live-action movie. It would be a great way to mend the relationship with fans who have felt slighted from the three bad movies and a horrible CGI cartoon. I believe the only way this could work is if the people involved in the video game writers and voice actors who could easily be cast in the movie. Some of them were the psychical basis for the characters' look.

"The Force Unleashed takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, and tells the story of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice (Starkiller), who is instructed to hunt down the remaining Jedi. Vader’s ultimate plan is to assassinate the Emperor. Starkiller later learns the way of the Force and has an epic battle against Lord Vader".The main characters include Galen Marek (Starkiller) who is Vader's secret apprentice. Juno Eclipse Marek's love interest and an Imperial pilot. Maris Brood, General Rahm Kota and Shaak Ti all Jedi who Marek is ordered to kill.

Sam Witwer (Battlestar Galactica, The Mist) as Galen Marek aka Starkiller. He did motion capture and voice acting for the video game.

Nathalie Cox (Kingdom of Heaven, Jumper) as Juno Eclipse. She also did voice and motion capture work for the game.

Israeli model Orli Shoshan (Attack of The Clones, Revenge of The Sith) as Shaak Ti. She played the Jedi in episodes two and three.

Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena) as Maris Brood, she was also involved in the video game.

A reuniting of sorts for Ridley Scott and Leonardo DiCaprio who recently worked together on "Body of Lies". They well work again on a film called "The Low Dweller" it's been considered a mix between "A History of Violence" and "No Country for Old Men". I think it's interesting to have a Ridley Scott action thriller set in India and I hope he gets on this one soon.

"Set in Indiana in the mid-1980s, the movie centers on a man (DiCaprio) trying to assimilate into society after he's released from jail, only to find someone from his past pursuing him to settle a score. In addition to the pursuer, a third male character and a female love interest are said to figure prominently in the script."

October 15, 2008

Sam Raimi (Spider-man) is producing a live-action adaption of the Wildstorm/DC comics series. Tom Cruise has been rumored for the lead role. "Sleeper revolves around characters in the Wildstorm Universe created by Jim Lee in his "Wildcats" comic, this one focusing on Holden Carver, a sleeper agent who has powers that make him impervious to pain and has been placed within a criminal organization. Things go wrong when his superior is put into a coma and he finds himself on the run with both sides of law enforcement after him."

Based on the Capcom (Street Fighter, Resident Evil) video game of the same title. German director Martin Weisz (The Hills Have Eyes 2 ) will be helming the project. I can see why he was chosen, I skipped through scenes in Hills2 and some of them were very impressive. Considering it was a low budget B-movie sequel to a remake Weisz handled the film as well as possibly a director can. I'm not very familar with the games but I'm interested to see what this ends up like, hopefully this isn't going to be another Silent Hill.

Milla Jovovich will be playing the lead with Brittany Snow (On The Doll) and Alyssa Jayne Hale co-starring.

"A woman is tormented by an evil that has haunted her family for generations, but the only man who believes her is the psychiatrist she meets in a mental institution. Together they must find the source of her family's damnation and then fight for their lives, until the curse is finally laid to rest."

Adapted by the same screenwriter who developed a script for "Headshot". Matz comic "Le Tueur" will be turned into a film titled the Killer. The project is being developed for director David Fincher who recently has been interested in a lot of "comics to film" projects. While this may take a while to start shooting with his recent issues with project "Rama", this could happen a little faster than expected. Since there is a script set in place I would imagine it could start shooting in 2010. That is unless Fincher decides on taking on one of his many other films in development.

"A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind."

I could see Fincher bringing back actors he has worked with in the past. Most notably actors Jared Leto, Edward Norton and Jake Gyllenhaal. From what I gathered the Killer seems to look unassuming as a hitman and these actors would work.

Variety is reporting that French comic "Du Plomb dans la tête" will be developed into a feature film titled Headshot. Warner Brothers is interested in the project although besides a script nothing else is confirmed. The comic was created by "Matz" a well known French comic creator who is being compared to Frank Miller. Like videogames, comics now are starting to become adaptive freindly. So it's slightly easier to develop newer comics because the companies and creators understand the material could become a movie later on. The basic premis seems interesting enough I just hope they decide on a quality director and cast.

"The series tells the story of two killers, two cops, and a journalist. In a Bronx apartment, Jimmy and Louis, two hired killers, slaughter a senator and the prostitute. Perry and Carlisle, two New York City cops, investigate and find evidence that points to the killers. Things go wrong and both their partners are killed. The Hitman and Cop decide to form an alliance, and on their road to revenge they realize that the enemy isn’t the only thing they have in common."

October 14, 2008

Like many of the newer video games "Dead Space" seems like it should have been made into a film instead of a game. A lot of the video game scripts lately have been very exciting and somewhat original. It's no wonder why many attempts have been unsuccessful with adapting older video games to films, since a lot of them don't have strong characters or storylines. From the game trailer and animated DVD release it looks as if they were planning on branching this series into a live-action film. It wouldn't be a surprise to see an announcement in the not distant future. It looks great along with the genres of science-fiction mixed with horror which we've seen used in Alien and Event Horizon. The dark tone seems perfect for directors such as Dario Argento who actually has a voice role in the game. Argento has yet to do science-fiction horror and this may be a project he might be offered. Nothing is in place at this moment with no commitment or script. The game for all I know hasn't even been optioned. If they are developing films based on Halo and Gears of War, then a Dead Space film isn't far away.

"Set in the distant future, Dead Space revolves around Isaac Clarke, a spaceengineer who works for the Concordance Extraction Corporation (C.E.C), a companythat operates "giant mining ships" throughout the galaxy. His company receives adistress call from the USG Ishimura, a “Planet Cracker” class ship that destroysplanets in order to extract valuable ore. Assuming that a mechanical failure is theonly problem, Isaac and two other C.E.C employees set out to rendezvous with theIshimura. However, they discover that the ship has been overrun by Necromorphs, ahostile alien race dependent upon necrotic flesh. Separated from his party, Isaacmust survive the Necromorph infestation and battle his way to safety through the Ishimura's various environments."

Labeled the "Blood and Ice-cream trilogy" because of the appearance of the popular UK ice-cream cone "Cornetto". The last film in this trilogy will be represented by the Mint flavor. The strawberry flavor was used in Shaun of The Dead to denote the use of zombies, blood and gore. In Hot Fuzz the vanilla flavor was used and it's blue wrapper denoting the cop genre. The use of green could mean a few genres or ideas. It's either going to be a alien invasion, science-fiction action or giant monster movie. Since the script has not been written it will be a while before we actually find out details. I could go with any of the film ideas they come up with as long as it's set in Britain again. It's rumored that the pair will be writing the script in late 2008 and shooting in 2009.

October 12, 2008

Based on the documentary of the same name will be directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) with Mark Wahlberg producing and possibly starring. Leonardo DiCaprio was previously rumored to be involved with the project but nothing was confirmed. The real life story is what eventually inspired both Miami Vice and Scarface. "In the 1980s, ruthless Colombian cocaine barons invaded Miami with a brand of violence unseen in this country since Prohibition-era Chicago - and it put the city on the map. "Cocaine Cowboys" is the true story of how Miami became the drug, murder and cash capital of the United States, told by the people who made it all happen." The film will focus on the infamous American drug trafficers Jon Roberts and Micky Munday. Now this is the type of movie Berg "should" be directing before any of this other rumored projects.